Cancelled/postponed trips due to COVID - please share your outcomes

[outofofficebrb]

From the horse's mouth. Trust me. We had a large group going. As of Sunday, their offer was 40% of fee as a voucher toward future travel. If you have symptoms, 100% voucher toward future travel. We've been battling them all week to no avail.

What were your original dates of travel? I want to make sure I log this properly, especially if you had any travel restrictions in place for arrivals at destination or departure (where you live) so please share if those apply. Thanks!

 

[tridacna]

Does the stage 4 gi e you more insurance claim bandwith? what date was your trip on the Nautilus?...also, surely it can't be 'that' hard to get a 'symptoms of COVID-19' doctor's note? all you have to do is cough...

Too late. Saw that after cancellation.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Too late. Saw that after cancellation.

which bit?

 

[W W Meixner]

Hi!

I know many of us are dealing with canceled trips and postponed trips due to COVID. I'm interested to hear what your plans originally were (dates or any specific logistics you want to share), where you were supposed to go and with whom you had booked travel with, what you ended up doing (canceling/postponing) and what solutions your travel suppliers (airline, liveaboard, resort, dive shop, etc.) were able to offer you.

I think this will help many of us in the same situation see what is possible and with who, and to also think of some creative ideas/alternatives to being flexible during this time.

I'm still working on details of my postponement and will refrain from sharing until I know what the final word is. However, I would love to hear your story and for others to be able to see them as well. To make it easier for everyone to read through and for me to log everything, please only post if your outcomes are final.

I am including what everyone is sharing that is a final outcome on a Google Sheet below for easy sorting/view. If anyone wants to volunteer to help keep this updated, please let me know. We can tag-team. I will try my best to update it as much as I can as the new posts come in. I am also trying to post credit to the member(s) who shared their experience with us in this thread. If I have "liked" your post it means it has been added to the database. Thank you for your contributions!

If you can't access the filters as it is in view mode only, go to "Data" and go to "Filter Views" and then use a new or existing temporary filter.

Thank you!

Scubaboard Coronavirus Travel COVID Policies for Refunds/Reschedules - updated Mar 18 2020

''O''...

Much easier to post what remains open as opposed to what is closed...and what remains open will not hold...

Air Canada has just laid off 5000 employees...

W...

 

[tridacna]

which bit?

The bit about ”if you’re showing symptoms, you get a 100% travel voucher”. When we called to cancel on Tues, that was not an option.

 

[outofofficebrb]

''O''...

Much easier to post what remains open as opposed to what is closed...and what remains open will not hold...

Air Canada has just laid off 5000 employees...

W...

The purpose of my efforts isn't to tell people what areas are still open for dive business and dive travel. I want people to know what other people have been successful in negotiating or obtaining from various travel suppliers given their need to cancel or postpone and to be able to share with others who might possibly be in the same situation what might be possible or what to expect should their trip be canceled or postponed depending on how long the current events go for.

As the saying goes..."The true strength of any relationship is measured in bad times, not good." I find it very insightful to see what the different stances are with the different companies. As I am logging these, I am gaining a lot of insight.

Or do you mean what companies will actually still be in business by the end of it all?

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

The bit about ”if you’re showing symptoms, you get a 100% travel voucher”. When we called to cancel on Tues, that was not an option.

UGH...that's tough...

 

[W W Meixner]

The purpose of my efforts isn't to tell people what areas are still open for dive business and dive travel. I want people to know what other people have been successful in negotiating or obtaining from various travel suppliers given their need to cancel or postpone and to be able to share with others who might possibly be in the same situation what might be possible or what to expect should their trip be canceled or postponed depending on how long the current events go for.

As the saying goes..."The true strength of any relationship is measured in bad times, not good." I find it very insightful to see what the different stances are with the different companies. As I am logging these, I am gaining a lot of insight.

''O''

I've just heard now that the Mayor of Miami has the virus...and that common sense has ''finally prevailed'' and the ''crowded as normal'' beaches have finally been closed...

On the ''world map'' Florida's ''red'' virus circle...was...the last time I saw it...smaller than some...they've ''finally'' decided to try and keep it that way...

You really have to wonder...''what does it take''...

W...

 

[TabeaK]

Alright, I just got final word, so I am ready to name and shame.

Dive Damai in Indonesia has just cancelled our April 19-30th Raja (Damai II) itinerary due to the travel restrictions and the fact that no customers would be physically able to get to the boat. They will not offer any refunds, nor will they reschedule affected passengers. They will keep our 100% paid-for trip (the Damai is a high end boat, we are talking ~6-7000$ per person) as a cancellation fee and have kindly send us a cancellation confirmation (via our travel agent), to file a claim.

For us this means at least a 20% loss of our money - IF the claim is successful, which probably is a big IF.


We had a wonderful time on the Damai II in 2018, but with this, we obviously will never be customers of theirs again and I will do my damndest to share my experience in every channel I can including when this is over. I will certainly do my research carefully once traveling is back on the cards and only choose LOB companies who have shown flexibility in this time.

 

[Dan]

Alright, I just got final word, so I am ready to name and shame.

Dive Damai in Indonesia has just cancelled our April 19-30th Raja (Damai II) itinerary due to the travel restrictions and the fact that no customers would be physically able to get to the boat. They will not offer any refunds, nor will they reschedule affected passengers. They will keep our 100% paid-for trip (the Damai is a high end boat, we are talking ~6-7000$ per person) as a cancellation fee and have kindly send us a cancellation confirmation (via our travel agent), to file a claim.

For us this means at least a 20% loss of our money - IF the claim is successful, which probably is a big IF.

Our travel agent says in case the claim is not successful or people have no travel insurance, Damai may provide a partial refund - size of which is to be negotiated.

We had a wonderful time on the Damai II in 2018, but with this, we obviously will never be customers of theirs again and I will do my damndest to share my experience in every channel I can including when this is over. I will certainly do my research carefully once traveling is back on the cards and only choose LOB companies who have shown flexibility in this time.

Thanks for posting!

- 1 for Damai.

I've been to Raja Ampat 8x, but have never been on Damai. It looks like I'll never be. My next one will be on Blue Manta in February 2020,

The last one was on Amira.
Raja Ampat Jan 2020 Trip Report